NATIONAL PARLIAMENT OF
PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMITTEE TRANSCRIPT
Inquiry into the 2007 Supplementary
Appropriation Bill 2007 - Head 297: Ministry of Women, Youth and Children’s
Affairs
(Uncorrected
Version – subject to changes upon revision)
Mr Chairman: We are looking at the 2007 Supplementary
Bill, and now we are looking at the Ministry of Women, Youth and Children. As
we know this is a new ministry and it is asking for $3million plus $3.5million. The Permanent Secretary and officials of the
ministry are here to explain how this money is going to be used by the
ministry. We want to welcome you and
thank the PS and your officials for coming to enlighten this committee through
your submission here. As I said it is a new
ministry and so most of the costing are quite understandable. But we will give you the opportunity to make
your presentation and then we will ask you questions relating to your
presentation.
PS: Thank you chair, and thank you for giving us
this opportunity to present to you our supplementary expenditure for 2007. As you know this is a new ministry and since
this ministry was established we have received two sets of funding, one being
virement from the Ministry of Home Affairs for existing functions of the
divisions for women, youth and children.
Since this is a new ministry it has to request administrative funds,
which is supposed to be utilized by headquarters for the running of the Ministry.
According to the supplementary that is here we have in
our budget a total amount of $3,706,479.00.
Because part of the funds is existing funds that have been approved by
Parliament, we had requested a total amount for headquarters in the tune of
$1,524,343.00. This is according to our
figures in the contingency warrant that was given to us.
In comparison with the figures we received and the
breakdown of the budget that was given to us through the contingency warrant,
we need some clarifications on the discrepancies that we have seen and which I
have outlined. On 2.1, we noted that the
total budget in the supplementary is $3,706,479 but when we add the break down
of the budget that was given to us through the contingency warrant, minus that
against the figure there was a difference of about $200, 050.66.
If you look at 2.1.1 we have found that accounting head
297-001-1020, which is headquarter wages, there is a difference of $50, which
is very minor. But I should point you to
the National Youth Congress as well as support to the Child Rights Bill, which
has a difference of $100,000 for each of those components. We would like to seek clarification from
Finance as to how that is so. But we
have noted that in the supplementary, grant to the National Youth Congress is
$227,308.00, whilst in the recurrent budget that has been approved it is
$127,308 and so there is a difference of $100,000. The same goes for accounting code
297-03-096411, which also has a difference of $100,000. I thought I should point this out to you for
some clarification.
We have attempted to explain the different expenditure
items in 3, and if you have questions to ask on those three items, you are most
welcome to do so. I think I should stop
here.
Mr Chairman: Thank you PS.
As I have said this is a new ministry and so we have no real benchmark to
criticizing these figures, but the PS has raised a question about this extra
$200,000. It is a very nice thing to
have $200,000 of extra money. You should
have taken it without asking any more questions. Can you explain how you managed to give an
extra $200,000 to this ministry?
PS: I do not mind getting it but if we can just
be clear about it.
Finance officials: I suspect it would be pretty
difficult to figure out where that money actually came from. Is that $200,000 a problem?
PS: It is the allocation to the National Youth
Congress, which is figure 29703054140.
In the figures we received through the contingency warrant, we have an
amount of $127,308. So it could have
been a hypo or I do not really know or they may have considered increasing that
figure.
Sorry, I do not have access to this additional
information but I think the explanation is here. We actually asked for an extra $100,000 for
each of those components when we requested finance for funds. Thank you.
Mr Chairman: Are there any more questions or
concerns. That is a big money for you to
spend in three months. Are you going to
spend it or are you going to leave some for next year?
PS: We are moving quite fast with our expenses,
and I am sure that we probably would not have problems spending that money.
You would appreciate that we still do not have a
corporate plan. We are working on one at
the moment and we hope that it would be launched at the end of this month or
the beginning of next month. We are carrying
on in priority areas but what we anticipate that as soon as the corporate plan
is in place we will then look perhaps at putting more emphasis on key areas
that put emphasis through the corporate plan. But I think the Ministry is
moving steadily with its expenses and we are hopeful that grants especially
given to the ministry will be spent without any problems by the end of the year
in view of the demands that is coming in especially on the provincial grants to
women, youth and children.
Finance official?: Obviously this year’s
yardstick for next year’s budget. I
think next year will be more of an appropriate time to scrutinize the
performance of the ministry.
PS: I think I should also mention that we are
still housed in the Ministry of Home Affairs, and space-wise we are on the
ground and because of that manpower coming in may also be a problem. That also has some implications on how much
spending we would have done on things like computer accessories and other
equipments that would be required by the additional staff.
We
are yet to fill 10 posts out of a total of 26 staff. The need for us getting more equipment has
been hampered by the fact that we have to wait until we have the necessary space
to get additional staff. We just do not
have space at the moment.
Mr Chairman: Is the office rental, subhead 30-104, is that
where you are now?
PS: We are sharing rental with the Ministry of
Home Affairs. They take one quarter and
we take the other quarter. That is what
we are doing at the moment.
Mr Chairman: Given that you do not have enough space you
are not anticipating to go somewhere else or look for somewhere else?
PS: We are looking for space but we also know
that it is very much a responsibility of the Prime Minister’s Office and the
Ministry of Infrastructure. We have not
moved very far in getting the kind of space that we are looking for.
Hon Fono: A
subhead in here – the SICOPSA revolving fund for $54,000, what is that
for? I would have thought that SICOPSA
had died a long time ago. What is that
going to be used for?
PS: This is to loan out funds for women to want
to go into business so that those who are granted a loan would then repay the
money. But then I think it is not legal
to operate that from a government entity, and I stand to be guided on this, and
so the funding is there and it appears on an annual basis. We are looking at assisting women to make
requests or women entrepreneurs who may wish to go into business and using that
fund.
Hon Fono: I think it would be better to change the
label SICOPSA to some other names, may be to women’s micro project and so
forth.
PS: I agree with you on that because it does not
reflect the operations at the moment because it is treated merely as a
grant. We will take note of that.
Mr Chairman: I did not see any procurement for any vehicle
for the ministry or have I missed that out.
Official: It is under 3010.
Mr Chairman: Are there any more concerns and queries. If not then that is the end of the
consideration of the Ministry of Women, Youths and Children. Thank you PS and your officials for
coming. That concludes our consideration
for today.